Fox News announced on Monday that it is cutting ties with longtime host Tucker Carlson.
"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," Fox said in a press release. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."
The statement also added that Carlson's last program was Friday, April 21. "'Fox News Tonight' will air live at 8PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named," the statement added.
Fox host Harris Faulkner read the statement during a brief Monday segment, also thanking Carlson "for his service to the network."
Media reporter Brian Stetler called the ouster an "earth-shaking moment in cable news."
"The biggest 'tell' in Fox's press release about Tucker Carlson's exit is that he is not getting a final show. No chance to say goodbye on his own terms or point people to his next home," Stelter tweeted.
"This is obviously a bombshell given his prominence in the political and media world," tweeted Fox News media reporter Howard Kurtz.
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News of Carlson's leaving the conservative media network comes on the heels of Fox host Dan Bongino's announcement last week that he would be leaving Fox after he and the outlet were unable to reach terms on a new contract.
"Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News," Bongino said Thursday on his podcast. "It's tough. It's tough to say that. You know, I've been there doing hits and working there for 10 years … so the show ending was tough."
"I want you to know it's not some big conspiracy," Bongino added. "I promise you. There's no acrimony. This wasn't some WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn't come to terms on an extension."
It's unclear what precipitated Carlson's departure but the split comes just days after the network agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. Discovery in the suit revealed Carlson trashing the same Trump election conspiracy theories he aired while severely lashing out at the former president.
"I hate him passionately," Carlson wrote in one text, harshly lambasting Trump's lawyers for advancing baseless narratives.
"He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong," Carlson wrote in one text.
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